Child Dentistry

When should my child first visit the dentist?

Dr. Chad Colson and Dr. Jill Colson recommend children make their first visit to the dental office between 12-18 months of age.  The first dental visit serves as an introduction to the office.  It is usually short and involves very little treatment.

Typically, the first “regular” dental visit should be between 24 and 36 months.  We may ask you to sit in the dental chair and hold your child during the examination. You may also be asked to wait in the reception area during part of the visit so that a relationship can be built between your child and your dentist.

What should I tell my child about the first dental visit?

During the first visit the dentist will:

• Examine the mouth, teeth and gums.
• Review radiographs for cavities on erupted teeth and to see development of adult teeth below the gum.
• Evaluate adverse habits like thumb sucking, check growth pattern and development.
• Airway evaluation and sleep breathing observations
• Teach about cleaning teeth and gums.
• Discuss dietary habits and make recommendations.
• Suggest a schedule for regular dental visits.

At our office, we are most concerned with all aspects of preventive care. We educate parents and children on diet, home-care, and regular dental visits that include radiographs when appropriate.  Most of the time, cavities are due to a diet high in sugary foods and a lack of brushing.  Baby teeth are important as they not only hold space for permanent teeth but they are important to chewing, biting, speech and appearance. For this reason it is important to maintain a healthy diet and daily hygiene in order to maintain baby teeth.

Diet

The longer it takes your child to chew a sticky, chewy type of food; the longer the sugary residue stays on their teeth.  The same goes for sipping on sugary beverages and eating hard candies that slowly dissolve in the mouth.  The longer the sugar exposure, the higher risk for cavities.

Every time someone eats, especially something sugary, an acid reaction occurs inside their mouth as the bacteria digests the sugars. This reaction lasts approximately 20 minutes. During this time the acid environment can destroy the tooth structure, eventually leading to cavities.  If the meal or snack is finished in 20 minutes, the acid environment recovers and the threat of a cavity diminishes.  But if consumption continues, so does the acid attack.  We often see more cavities in patients who like to snack or who continuously sip on sodas or other sugary beverages.

Read labels on food and drinks to look for sugar in the ingredients  

Sugar comes in many forms such as: high fructose corn syrup, corn sweetener, corn syrup, dextrose, fructose, fruit juice concentrates, glucose, high-fructose corn syrup, invert sugar, lactose, maltose, malt syrup, raw sugar, sucrose, sugar syrup, cane crystals, cane sugar, crystalline fructose, evaporated cane juice, and corn syrup solids.

Airway and Sleep Breathing

For children, signs and symptoms of airway and sleep breathing issues are different than adults.

If your child may have one or more of these symptoms– please let us know!  Early intervention improves nasal breathing, sleep quality, behavior and focus, jaw growth and development, speech and feeding, and overall long-term dental and health outcomes.  We will review signs an symptoms in more detail at your child’s visit.

• Mouth breathing, during sleep or during the day
• Grinding teeth at night/wear on teeth
• Restless sleeper/frequent waker
• Dark circles under eyes
• Light snoring or breathing sounds while sleeping
• Enlarged tonsils
• Chronic congestion and/or ear infections, allergies
• Misaligned teeth, crowding
• Tongue tie/lip tie
• Drooling
• Tongue thrust
• Digestive issues, reflux
• Picky/messy eater/doesn’t chew food thoroughly
• Speech issues
• Under developed jaw
• Bed wetting

Home-care

At the child’s appointment, one of our experienced hygienists will review proper brushing and flossing techniques with both parent AND child.

Regular Dental Visits

We encourage regular dental visits!  Regularly seeing your child allows us to intervene quickly before bad habits have a detrimental effect.  Typically a child is seen every 6 months for a routine hygiene visit.  If your child has extensive treatment that is needed, Dr. Chad Colson or Dr. Jill Colson may recommend your child see a pediatric dentist.